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Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Irish fishing industry will be disappointed by the trade deal between the EU and the UK, which he called “the least bad version of Brexit possible.”
In response to the agreement reached between EU and UK negotiators on Christmas Eve after four years of negotiations, Martin said that “there is no ‘good Brexit’ for Ireland” but that the Government has worked hard “to minimize the negative consequences . “
“I think the deal reached today is the least bad version of Brexit possible, given the current circumstances,” he said.
“I know that, more than others, our fishing communities will be disappointed with the result. But compared to the prospect of ‘no deal’, which would have excluded them entirely from British waters, negotiators have worked to minimize the damage, “he said.
“The Government will work to ensure that the sector and the coastal communities that depend on it receive support during the next period.”
Fishing
Negotiations went to the last minute to find an agreement on fisheries, with the two sides locked in talks in Brussels working “line by line and fish by fish,” an EU official said.
Ultimately, the EU agreed to give up 25 per cent of the value of the roughly € 650 million that EU vessels fish in British waters each year, over a 5.5-year period.
After that, access will be established in annual negotiations with the UK, with a “presumption” that access will be given, according to an EU official. If the two parties cannot reach an agreement, the UK must continue to offer access provisionally for three months.
It was disagreement over how the 25 percent value should be measured that caused the last-minute delay in announcing the deal, according to the Commission.
It was finally reached at 1.44pm (Irish time) on Christmas Eve.
The UK had originally sought to recover 80 per cent in a much shorter period.
The Irish fishing industry has said it will “lose dramatically” from the deal.
The Taoiseach said the government “would consider the details of the text very carefully” but believed that the agreement represents “a good compromise and a balanced outcome”.
The agreement that there would be no tariffs or quotas on trade between the EU and the UK, including fish, was “a very significant achievement,” he said.
He warned that there are “major changes still imminent for our companies and our citizens” with new formalities, paperwork and customs and regulatory controls starting early next month.
He urged “everyone to inform themselves and be prepared for what lies ahead.”
When asked how he thought the Irish fishing industry would react to the deal, Mr Martin acknowledged that Brexit would always pose serious challenges for the Irish fishing industry given its dependence on fishing in UK waters, which account for about 34% of all fish. captured by Irish ships.
“By the time Brexit was announced, we could see difficulties and challenges for the fishing industry across Europe, particularly in Ireland given the access we have to British waters in terms of mackerel and some concessions have been made.
“But we have negotiated very hard to minimize the damage to the Irish fishing industry and a No Deal would have been ruinous for the industry so we had to avoid that, but also the government is ready to support our fishing industry and more than that wants to support to the communities that their support and sustenance so that there is a lot of economic support for the fishing community as a result of this agreement “.
‘Disruption is coming’
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the deal covering so many areas was “positive” but that “a lot of disruption still looms” when Brexit takes effect on January 1.
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said that while the deal was a relief, people should not “have any illusions that there is no good Brexit for Ireland, the North and the South” and that “the full consequences this is still unknown. “
“We need to look at the details of this document and compare it with what had been established in principle in the broader agreement, the Irish protocol and also with the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.
“In the immediate term, we must ensure that there is full support for those sectors that will have difficulties despite today’s agreement and we must see how the voice of the north can be heard at the EU level in the coming years.”
Deal ‘fails Irish fishermen’
The fishing industry reacted angrily to the agreement. One of the industry’s largest groups, the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organization, said the deal “fails the Irish fishermen.”
The group demanded compensation by transferring the quota for mackerel, one of the most profitable stocks in the sector, caught by other EU member states.
The Irish fishing industry currently catches 60 per cent of its mackerel, one of the most profitable catches for Donegal’s fishing industry in particular, in UK waters.
The KFO said the agreement showed “the deceptive nature of these lengthy negotiations and expressed dismay that the repeated guarantees” have been effectively shredded. “
Sean O’Donoghue, executive director of the KFO, said that, having secured written commitments in official documents related to the fishing sector, four and a half years of agreements “had been disgraced by the negotiators to all intents and purposes.”
“We cannot sit idly by and allow decades of investment in building a successful business to be sacrificed for the shape of this bad business,” he said.
“Despite a seismic effort to correct the imbalance in the proposed agreement in recent days, it has not changed enough and our highly developed mackerel fishery is losing dramatically.”
O’Donoghue said the Irish fishing industry would be “seeking compensation from our EU colleagues to correct this earlier mistake.”
“We will not accept this. Furthermore, we fully expect the Irish government to deliver the necessary compensation in the form of a transfer of the mackerel quota from the other EU coastal states which, pro rata, have seen a much less severe impact on their respective mackerel fisheries, ”he said. .
Farmers say it’s a ‘relief’
The Irish Farmers Association said the post-Brexit trade deal was “a relief” but that there was “little to applaud” given the “significant difficulties” facing the Irish agri-food sector.
“The work of both parties to avoid a ‘no deal’ must be recognized, especially after four years of damaging uncertainty that had an impact on farm incomes. However, the end result leaves little reason to celebrate, ”said IFA President Tim Cullinan.
Irish farmers have “real concerns” about how non-tariff barriers will affect the ability to keep trade moving and that truck scenes get stuck and cargo is delayed at the port of Dover in southern England due to the ban to travel from France by Covid-19 this week. “It doesn’t bode well,” he said.
“Greenways have been previously implemented for the export of food. These must be prioritized after January 1, ”he said.
The government should have the € 400 million support fund and the EU’s € 5 billion Brexit adjustment fund available to Irish farmers early in the new year, Cullinan said.
He expressed concern about the longer-term effect of UK food imports from other counties such as Australia, New Zealand and South American countries on Irish exports to Britain.
“The danger is that the agreement is not strong enough to ensure that single market regulations are enforced,” he said.
The “level playing field” provisions incorporated into the agreement by the EU to ensure that food standards are not undermined by the UK in the future “should stop any race to the bottom,” he said.
Different trading conditions
The Ibec business group said the deal was a “great relief” for Irish companies, but chief executive Danny McCoy said trading conditions with Britain would be “very different, involving complex customs procedures and more expensive transport options. “.
“The new agreements with the UK will also have an impact on trade in services and much remains to be clarified,” he said.
The lengthy negotiations had left little time for companies to adapt to the new agreements and Ibec would be working to ensure that “supply chains adapt as quickly as possible,” he said.
Paul Kelly, director of Food Drink Ireland, an Ibec group, said the deal avoided “disastrous tariffs”, but that the deal “was still a very tough Brexit.”
Food and drink companies would face significant non-tariff barriers to trading with Britain with customs, health checks and other food safety requirements in “a few days,” he said.
He warned that this would lead to “substantial ongoing costs that will have to be absorbed not only by the food supply chain but also by consumers.”
Reaching an agreement to facilitate and facilitate customs and sanitation controls on food, animals and plants at the borders “should now be a priority for both parties,” Kelly said.
The Taoiseach said that while it respected the UK’s decision to leave the EU, it was “very sorry” for the decision, but wished the UK the best “in this new chapter in its history.
“Our people, our histories and our economies are deeply intertwined. As we move into the next phase of our relationship, we will work together to ensure that it remains deep and strong, ”said the Taoiseach.
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